Promises
by Nightwing99
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki broke his promise and left them all. Now many years later the Akatsuki have returned and will reveal things abut Naruto that will shock them to their very souls. XD Angst is the main genre but i will throw a little humour in there!
1. Prologue

**Wooo this is gonna be my first major story and I'm really excited ( just ignore me I'm a bit hyper at the moment XD) The main of this is angst, but I don't want it to be a total doom and gloom story , so im going to throw in some humour and not make it too depressing. Wells I hope you enjoy XD**

**x-x-x-x-x**

The obsidian cloaks rippled as the wind blew threw the trees, the crimson clouds mottled by the overhanging branches. The soft chime of bells mingled with the wind as the two shadowed figures past between the trees.

Sasuke Uchiha's eyes flickered to the sky as the wind flittered through his hair. The quite jingling of bells caught his attention; he strained his ears, before pushing it to the back of his mind and shaking his head, as though to rid himself of the thought. His eyes travelled back to the still water lying under the bridge, the suns reflection glowing back at him. Sighing, he stared at the reflection with a sombre expression on his face. It reminded him of that person, with his golden bang and cerulean blue eyes. He who had a dream and vowed to do anything to achieve it, he had made a promise, and he never broke his promises.

Well, he lied, he broke the promise.

'Sasuke?' a soft voice interrupted Sasuke's thoughts.

He glanced at Sakura, sadness etched on to her face, tear tracks clearly noticeable. Normally Sasuke would have glared at her for interrupting, but today he just didn't have it in him, not today.

'Come on Sasuke, we have to go meet the others,' her voice was barely a whisper. Pushing himself away from the railing he slowly followed her down the path.

Falling in to step beside her, neither said a word. It was the same every year, everyone would meet up, no matter what they were doing or who they had commitments to, they would always be there, on this day. October 10th.

The day he had broke his promise.

The day he left.

The day he died.

The day Naruto Uzumaki ceased to exist.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Sorry that the first bit was so short, but it was only the prologue so I shall try and make chapter 1 longer….so please review it will mean a lot XD**

**Ja ne**


	2. Realisations

**Woooo finally I got this chapter down, considering how short the prologue was I didn't think that people would take and interest in this story much soooo ii would like to say a massive thanks to the people who reviewed my story**

**-UrufuMetsuki**

**-You can run but you can't hide**

**-Logoht**

**-chacra**

**-And also a thanks to 09 who also wrote a really short wonderful couple of sentences in the review.**

***------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Naruto: You… killed me!!!**

**Nightwing99: Ahhhh I'm sorry but it was vital part of the story!**

**Naruto: But you killed me! *cries**

**Nightwing99: Nartuto please don't or els….oh hey S-Sasuke…..**

**Sasuke:….you made my dobe cry…**

**Nightwing99: *cowers Ahhh I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm Sorry!**

**Sasuke: no one makes my dobe cry and lives….**

**Nightwing99: Nuuuuu, before I'm Chidoried I better say that I don't own any of the characters included in the story! **

***------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Realisations **

Eleven ninja sat round a table at Ichiraku Ramen. As fully fledged Jonin, the rookie 12 could hardly be called rookies any more.

Or count as 12.

Their days as Genin and lowly Chunin had long since past, 7 years to be exact, now in their early 20's they had honed their skills and excelled in their specialist fields, before parting for their own paths in life. Many had entered the Anbu or taken on Genin teams of their own.

Kiba and Akamaru were two of the best trackers in the village; together they made a formidable asset on their Anbu missions. Kiba had matured and overall quietened down, many would have said that this was due to the fact that he had simply grown up and had taken his duties more seriously, but in truth this was not the case.

Shino was often found with his best friend and often accompanied Kiba on many missions. With Shino it was nearly impossible to tell his emotions, only those close to him could possibly read him, and even though it was slight, his change in attitude was there.

Hinata had under gone a huge change. She was no longer the shy, stuttering girl that she once was. She trained everyday, working on her family technique and eventually developed her own version which she perfected, earning respect from the clan and proving that she was worthy of the title of Hyuuga clan head. With help from her cousin she eventually entered a relationship with Kiba.

Shikamaru now held the role of Head stagiest to the Hokage, although some would speculate that he was somewhat badgered into the role. However to the surprise of some, Shikamaru actually did his work, most of time, he claimed that he owed it to someone, though his phase of 'troublesome' was still common. Choji upheld his clan duties and was receiving training to become the next clan head. While Ino went into medicine and like Sakura became an apprentice under Tsunade.

Neji, also part of the 'I-got-the-shit-kicked-out-of-me-by-a-certain-someone-and-saw-truth' club, entered the Anbu with Tenten. Neji became head of the branch family, adopting a certain promise; he worked to mend the differences between the two houses. Over the years he became very close with his cousin (wooooow no Hyuuga-cest here guys…I mean that they are…well you know what I mean XD) and also helped her to develop her fighting style. Tenten...well let's just say that Tenten got her hands on more weapons…a lot more weapons. Becoming friends with Anko and gaining some of her weapons and techniques was not a good combination, especially when she was pissed. One of the most dramatic changes under gone by anyone was amazingly, by Lee. The day that Lee had showed up without the bright green spandex and orange legwarmers had been a day to remember, shock and surprise had been written on everyone's faces, Gai had even keeled over and had to be taken to Tsunade and be treated for mental trauma. Now wearing normal clothes and a new hair style, (Sakura had layered his hair and spiked the ends when he grew it a bit longer) Lee looked kind of normal…although his personality and views on 'the springtime of young' had not changed, much to the delight of Gai. Kiba had once said, _'Kami forbid the day someone gives Lee a genin team.'_ And that was exactly what happened.

Sai became the unofficial member of Team 7 after Sasuke returned. He even quit 'Root' after fully learning and gaining his emotions and feelings. The friendships that he had made had grown stronger, and he now had a better understanding with emotions, though there were still times when he really asked for a smack in the face.

Sakura continued her apprenticeship under Tsunade and her skills were close to rivalling even her masters. She was no longer the useless fan girl that every one saw her as. Because of him she became more determined and once she had her mind set on something it was near impossible for anyone to change it. Even when Sasuke returned, she stuck to her training; he was more of a close friend to her now. And finally she saw what was right in front of her and gave into Lee, let's just say that his yell of joy could be heard on the other side of the village.

Sasuke. Sasuke had changed in many ways. Now part of the Anbu his skills were as famous as that of his sensei, and he was high in demand mission wise.

But since that time, he was more emotionally unpredictable.

He would still meet up with the others, and take part in the conversations, but his moods and emotions could change rapidly and there were times when he would completely draw back into himself and cut off everyone. Times like this were always difficult, no matter what anyone did, nothing made a difference they could only sit and wait for him to come out again. Sometimes it lasted for days, but no one ever pushed him, they all knew the cause and all felt the same kind of pain. Tsunade had said that he had developed a type of psychological depression caused by intense trauma of the mind, and although others may be able to control their pain, Sasuke's had developed into a severe medical condition that he would probably never recover from. The pain of losing ones best friend was too much.

Nearly 7 years ago he had been bought back to the village by Naruto. The blonde had tracked him down and they had engaged in one final fight. They had thrown attack after attack at each other, even with another Chidori through the chest; Naruto eventually gained the upper hand. Both wounded heavily, Naruto pinned him to the ground, a Rasengan held in his hand. Sasuke remembered it like it was yesterday.

**FLASHBACK**

"_Go on. Just do it. You finally caught me.__You ruined my life enough already, so why don't you go and finish it all off. Go on I dare you!" he sneered._

_He closed his eyes, the soft breeze from the Rasengan playing on his blood splattered skin. Suddenly something wet rolled down his cheek. His eyes blinked open as more of the droplets fell. He stared at Naruto above him, tears streaming from his blue eyes and down his whickered cheeks._

"_I… I can't do that." He whispered_

"_Hn. What are you now Dobe, a bloody coward! See, I didn't think that you would go through with it. You and your pathetic bonds, they do nothing but slow you down."_

"_No." _

"_No what?"_

"_No, I don't care what you say, I won't kill you Sasuke. To you these bonds may mean nothing, but, to me they mean everything. You're my best friend Sasuke, you always have been and you always will be, no matter what you do, that will never change."_

_Sasuke's eyes were fixed on Naruto; the Rasengan in Naruto hand began to fade away._

"_It's true…that, that I may not have had anyone to love me and therefore wouldn't know what it is like to lose everyone, but you are my family Sasuke. You were like my brother and you still are."_

_The tears intensified, splashing onto Sasuke's face, who made no attempt to brush them away._

"_When we were younger, I used to see you all the time, you seemed so lonely and I understood how you felt because__ ...__ I felt the same loneliness. I wanted nothing more then to talk to you, to be your friend. But you were loved by everyone; you were the last Uchiha, while I was just the demon child that no one wanted their kids to play with. You were better then me at everything. So I made you my rival, so…so that I could be as good as you, so that I could be your friend."_

_Naruto's breath became ragged._

"_I know that what you're doing is important to you, but I will do anything to protect you from that snake-teme, and I know that you think that our friendship was worthless and the bonds that we shared only brought you down. But I will do anything, anything to bring you back; I'd even help you to defeat your brother, just anything to have my best friend back…"_

_Naruto body could no longer hold itself together. His eyes closed and he slumped forward on top of Sasuke. _

_Sasuke continued to stare up, his eyes never leaving where Naruto had been seconds ago. Tears began to run from he corners of his eyes._

"_Why?" he whispered out loud._

"_Why is it that when Sakura said those same words all those years ago I felt nothing, but when you say them…? Why do I still feel these bonds…?"_

**FLASHBACK END**

Eventually Kakashi and the rest of the retrieval team had discovered a half-conscious and bleeding Sasuke desperately dragging a half dead Naruto back to the village.

When Sasuke had woken up he was in the hospital he was informed by an emotionless Sakura that he had been sleep for nearly a week and after a meeting, the council had decided that his actions were not his own and that he was reaccepted into Konoha. He had mentally frowned; he knew that the only reason was because that he was the last Uchiha. When he had asked Sakura about Naruto, the only thing that she would tell him was that he was yet to wake up. Just as she a turned to walk out the door, Sasuke had caught her words "I hope you're happy with what you've done to him."

He had Anbu assigned to watch him at all times, not that he could go anywhere anyway.

A couple of days later he had been visited by the Hokage. It was obvious that she hated him; it was evident in her voice.

**FLASHBACK**

"_You will be pleased to know that you have been granted permission back into Konoha, you will be given access around the village though you will be under constant Anbu supervision at all times, that is the will of the council." At that she turned to leave._

"_How is Naruto?" His words made her stop, but she did not turn._

"_I don't think you deserve to know that Uchiha, since you're the reason he's in this condition." Her tone was cold._

"_Yes, I know I don't deserve any of this! I shouldn't even be allowed here! After everything that I've done, everything that I've done to him, I'm still allowed back into this village. He did everything, put everything aside to come and find me, after I nearly killed him! After I had torn him apart and left him to die! He…he…"_

_Sasuke threw his head in his hands and without realising he began to cry._

"_The only reason I've been allowed back in this village is because I'm the last Uchiha, because of the Sharingan! I could do anything and I'd still be allowed back! I don't want any of this! I don't care if you arrest me and throw me in prison! Take away everything I've got or torture me! I would give everything up if you would just tell me how Naruto is!" Sasuke sat there breathing heavily, tears still dripping down his face._

"_Naruto is fine; he's still not awake but doing fine."_

_Sasuke's head snapped up at the voice. Tsunade was standing at the foot of his bed__,__ the ghost of a smile playing across her features._

"_Huh?"_

"_I'm glad to see you feel that way Uchiha, but you're not off the hook, you're still in deep trouble not matter what the council says. But I'll let you know as soon as Naruto wakes up." With that she turned and swept out the door._

"…_thank you" _

**FLASHBACK END**

After that Tsunade had become nicer to him, even if it was only just a little bit, it had shown him that she wasn't completely against him. And true to her word she came and told him the minute the Dobe woke up.

Naruto stayed in hospital for the next week, Sasuke spent most of his time with him, just talking, Naruto being Naruto instantly forgave him for everything. However whenever someone came to visit he left, saying that he shouldn't be there.

When Naruto was finally let out, Sasuke finally realised that his bad luck was out to get him when they met all his ex-friends right outside. Sasuke had been hoping to avoid them all for as much as possible, he expected them to do many things, but what he didn't expect was for Kiba to walk right up to him put his hand on his shoulder and say with a big grin, "I never thought I hear the day that Sasuke Uchiha would burst into tears."

The look on Sasuke's face had been priceless.

Turns out that during Tsunade's visit, Sakura had been outside the door and heard his entire breakdown, she had then told all the others, and surprisingly that softened them up, they were still all pissed of course, I mean who wouldn't be, but they had softened up none the less.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Ichiraku Ramen**

The 11 young ninja sat round a table at Ichiraku, Naruto's favourite place, in the past years the ramen stand had grown considerably. They'd ordered, even though they weren't hungry. Many of the bowls were untouched, even Choji's. No words were spoken, each thinking over one thing. He was gone.

"Can't believe it's been another year…" sighed Shikamaru, breaking the silence. Kiba turned.

"Yeah… I still find it hard to believe that he's not gonna jump out of somewhere screaming 'bout how someone owes him ramen."

"Heh, never thought I'd want to see that eyesore of a jumpsuit of his." Shikamaru rested his chin on his hands.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun was most youthful! He always put his friends before himself! He…h-he..." Lee's shout died down and tears welled up in his eyes. Tenten didn't have the heart to tell him to shut up.

"You can always tell when this day comes round" began Sakura. "Iruka-sensei barely talks; Tsunade-sama _actually _does her paperwork…hell even Kakashi-sensei is on time"

"Most people miss him, the majority of the ninja, and hell must have frozen over or something because even the villagers miss him." Exclaimed Kiba. "Just think of all the things he's done! I mean Naruto, the dead last! Bought us a new Hokage, and must have saved the village countless times! Not to mention all the pranks that he pulled."

Smiles began to appear on faces and the constricting atmosphere started to lift.

Tenten giggled, "Do you remember the time he rigged every door in the Hokage Tower to explode when Tsunade-sama opened them."

"Ha-ha she was picking splinters out of her hair all day, and it was even better when she caught him and threw him out of the top story window" Ino broke down into fits of giggles.

Sakura broke in "No even better was the time when Sai was trying to cheer Naruto up, but Naruto somehow got it into his head that Sai was coming on to him, you should have seen his face!" The laughter must have been contagious, because everyone was laughing or smiling.

Kiba slammed his fist on the table, "Right enough of the emo atmosphere, I doubt Naruto would want us moping around like, so lets get out and have fun for Naruto!" There was a chorus of "Hai's" as everyone rose from the table. It was the same every year; they would all meet at Ichiraku's before going out afterwards for Naruto, because he was never the kind of person to just sit around sulking.

"Right! This year I'm gonna get drunk for Naruto!"

"Kiba, you get drunk for Naruto _every_ year." Came Shino's monotone reply.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Hokage Office**

Tsunade lay collapsed over her desk, bottle of sake in one hand and a pile of paperwork neatly stacked by her other. She hated this time of the year. It reminded her of things, things that she would rather choose to forget. Exactly seven years since the blonde who was like her little brother had gone, she would never see his face again, she never even got to say goodbye because they never found his body, there was nothing left to find. She snorted and took a sip of sake, she had everything ready for the brat, she'd spent weeks sorting everything out for the announcement of him become her successor, ironically it was set for the day after he got back from the mission. The mission he never returned from.

Sighing she pushed herself up and lent back in her chair and raised the bottle to her lips once more. Stupid brat, after everything that he done, everything that he had yet to do, he went and got himself killed. The dream that he spent his whole life striving towards was within his grasp, and then it slipped away along with him.

When she found out she had shut herself in her office and refused to speak to anyone, it was only when Jiraiya literally smashed the door down and nearly shook her to death that she came to her senses. Although it hurt and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a corner, she knew that she had a village to take care of. Jiraiya was her pillar; he was always there for her and new exactly how to cheer her up, especially on days like this. But recently he'd been out travelling somewhere; apparently his spy network had picked up some very interesting information. She didn't know when he'd be back.

She was about to take another sip when…

"TSUNADE-HIME!"

To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Jiraiya just narrowly missed the sake bottle aimed straight for his head. Tsunade whipped round and stormed up to him on the window sill, grabbed him by his collar and hung him out the window…the top story window.

"YOU STUPID PERVERT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?"

Jiraiya, while hanging on for dear life, cried, "N-now now Hime! There's no need for this! Just let me in there something important that you have to know!"

Grudgingly, Tsunade pulled him and dumped him on the floor before storming back to her chair and snatching up another sake bottle. "What is it!? You better have a good reason for me wasting half a bottle of sake!"

Jiraiya perched himself back on the window sill, now serious. "One of my spies in Fire country came across some very disturbing information. Apparently something has happened which will affect all the hidden villages."

"That serious huh? What information is this?"

"Akatsuki"

Tsunade stiffened

"They are not what we thought they were…"

"W-what do you mean 'they aren't what we thought they were'!?"

Jiraiya's gazed out the window and uttered two words which would shock her to the core.

"They're innocent…"

***------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Yosh the first chapter is done!! In the next chapter Naruto's death and the mystery surrounding the Akatsuki will be revealed!! Wahaaaaa!!**

**SOOOOOO…please review XD**

***------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Nightwing99: See, even though you've died everyone misses you, Sasuke's even gone more emo because of it!**

**Naruto: *sulks….I'm still pissed off with you!**

**Nightwing99: *sighs**


	3. Questions

**Well here it is! The next chapter of Promises! Sorry I took so long, I have no excuse so feel free to yell at me for making you wait XD**

**Well as promised this chapter will explain the mysteries behind Naruto's death and the Akatsuki, I hope it all makes sense!**

**And again I would also like to say another big thank you to people who reviewed my story ^_^**

**Chapter 2 reviewer!!!**

**-litewarior4**

**-izzybell117**

**-chacra**

**09**

**-AmayaNight**

**-UrufuMetsuki**

**-darwinsito**

**-Leo's Katanas**

**So for you great people I send you a cookie, *tries to smush cookie through screen… **

**Also I would like to say that the relationship that I have written between Naruto and Sasuke may seem as though it is leaning towards yaoi, though I am an obsessive yaoi fan girl, I did not intend for this to be a yaoi fic, however I'm not sure at the moment…so I will leave it up to you guys!!^_^**

**Straight Fic or Yaoi Fic?**

***--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Naruto: Er…Nightwing99 I don't think that you're gonna be able to smush that cookie through the computer..**

**Nightwing99: Er…. I knew that…*looks like she knows what she on about**

**Naruto: Oh hey Sasuke!**

**Sasuke: …**

**Nightwing99: Hey Sasuke what's wrong? Er…Sasuke?**

**Sasuke: And I quote…**_ '__**Sasuke was in hysterics, his tears soaking the front of his shirt' **_**…WTF! (Spoilers guys!!!XD)**

**Nightwing99: Hey calm down duck butt it's important to the story, now quit you're whining and do the disclaimer!**

**Sasuke: Fine. This complete dork of a writer doesn't own any us, she wishes; however she does own the story**

***--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**FLASHBACK**

"_Take care gaki."_

"_Ahh you worry too much baa-chan!" With a grin spread across his face Naruto pulled his mask down and bounded through the gates with the rest of his Anbu squad in pursuit. Tsunade watched them fade into the trees. She frowned; she had a bad feeling, like an overhanging black cloud. Shizune placed a hand on the Hokages shoulder, "Don't worry, he'll be fine, he always is." Somewhat comforted by Shizune's calming smile, Tsunade smiled back._

"_Well if that's the case I think I'll take a walk to clear my head..."_

"_Oh no you don't! You have a mountain of paperwork waiting for you on your desk. And it will be done now." _

_It was then that Tsunade had another bad feeling, this time as a result of the slightly sadistic grin etched on Shizune's face. Deciding going for a walk was not worth her life, she let herself be dragged back to her office where metre high stacks of pointless paper awaited her approval._

_**Time skip: 8 hours**_

_**Hokages Office: 10:30pm**_

"_HOKAGE-SAMA!"_

_Scared shitless, Tsunade's head shot up and smashed into the back of her chair. "WHAT!" She screamed at Izumo and Kotetsu who had burst through the door._

"_Hokage-sama! Naruto's squad members have just returned!" panted Izumo, while clutching at the door._

_Tsunade waved her hand lazily, "Ahh just send the brat in…wait, did you just say only his squad members….but, where's Naruto!?"_

"_Hokage-sama that's the emergency! You have to come now!" Cried Kotetsu desperately._

_Tsunade stared. Then the possibilities dawned on her and her eyes widened, she slowly rose from her chair. "No…please don't tell me… he's probably just injured isn't he, yeah stupid brat is always getting into trouble. Well then lets go and sort him out__,__" she quickly swept past the two Chunin and out the door._

_Izumo lowered his head. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama…I…"_

_Tsunade stopped but did not turn "Shut up…" Tsunade whispered quietly, almost pleadingly._

"…_I'm sorry. Naruto is dead."_

_**Time skip: 30 minutes**_

_Sasuke lazily made his way to the Hokage Tower, he had just finally managed to get to sleep when an Anbu had appeared at his door, with a message to go to the Hokage's Office at once, apparently it was a Class A emergency._

_The street was scarcely lit, shadows coated nearly everything and darkness consumed all the outer buildings. Sasuke glanced up, the night had been so clear before, and now the sky was cover in thick, dark, foreboding clouds. Foot steps to his right caught Sasuke's attention. As a basic reflex from years of Anbu training he whipped out a kunai. Cautiously he stopped and glared at the shadows as if that would stop the intruder. However he inwardly relaxed when he saw who it was._

"_Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" Sakura walked up to him followed by Ino, Shikamaru and Choji._

"_Hokage's Office." He grunted._

"_Wouldn't happen to be about a Class A emergency would it?" Questioned Shikamaru lazily._

_Sasuke peered at him curiously, "I take it you got it too then?"_

_Shikamaru glanced at the raven from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, and I don't think that we are the only ones, something big is going on."_

"_Not the only ones? Who else do you mean?"_

_In response to Ino's question, Shikamaru merely pointed his thumb over his shoulder at a dark side street. The shinobi turned as the sound of footsteps reached their ears. Slowly 4 figures materialised out of the darkness, taking the forms of Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata. Seeing the others the 4 of them made their way over._

"_Hey did you by any chance get…" started Kiba_

"_A message about a Class A emergency? Yes we all did." Interrupted Sakura._

"_I see," replied Shino. Kiba pouted at being cut off. "This is most unusual, I have a feeling that something has happened, something quite important it must be for all of us to be summoned, and I feel that we will meet others on our way." The bug user stated softly._

"_Um…ano, maybe we should make our way to the Hokage tower now?" Suggested Hinata quietly. Agreeing with the lavender haired girl, the group continued on their journey._

_Upon reaching the office, the group were surprised to see Lee, Neji and Tenten waiting outside the door. Shikamaru raised his hand in greeting. "Lemme guess, you got the message to?"_

_Neji nodded in return at the gesture and pushed away from his position at the wall. "We arrived here 5 minutes ago and were told to wait here. There is something going on, the few people that we have seen have been acting very strangely and there is a fore-boding feeling in the air, I can sense it."_

"_Something is wrong guys. Something is very, very wrong," muttered Choji. Suddenly the door opened revealing a puffy eyed Shizune. Sniffing quietly she addressed them. "Tsunade-sama will see you now."_

_The ninja filed into the room, their minds whirling at Shizune's state. If they were surprised at by Shizune, then they were down-right shocked at Tsunade. Her eyes were red and sore with fresh tear tracks scaling down both cheeks, while her hair was tangled, un-brushed and sticking out all over the place._

"_Tsunade-shinso? What's wrong?" asked Sakura as she rushed over to her masters side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Without looking at her apprentice Tsunade merely answered, "I have news for the former Teams of Kakashi, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai."_

"_Well if it's for all of us, shouldn't we wait for Naruto to get back from his mission?" said Kiba._

_At the mention of his name, Tsunade burst into tears and fell onto her arms sobbing. "Tsunade-shinso!" Sakura reached forward. "Please Tsunade-shinso! Tell me what's wrong!" Tsunade started to mumble between sobs. "N-no… no…no…not…c-come…not here…n-no…"_

_Sakura looked at her friends confused. Between the uncontrollable sobs and the muffling caused by her arms, hardly anyone could make out the words, let alone understand the sentence, but of course there was always one. Shikamaru's mind was in overdrive trying to contemplate the meaning of Tsunade's words. Then it hit him, like he had been slugged in the stomach, his breath hitched and his eyes grew wide in realisation. No, it couldn't be that could it?_

"_T-Tsunade-sama?" Everyone looked at him, surprised at the stuttering and hesitance in his voice._

"_Where is Naruto…?"_

"_What do you mean where is he! He's on a miss…" Ino halted, gaining the full meaning in her friend's words. The atmosphere froze and a deathly silence reigned over the room, broken only by Tsunade's quieting sobs._

"…_Tsunade-sama?" whispered Lee, even though he didn't want to know the answer. There was no reply._

"_Tsunade-sama! Where is Naruto?!" Cried Sasuke, fear evident in his eyes. Tsunade's sobs subsided and without moving she replied in a clear voice the answer that nobody wanted to hear._

"_N-Naruto Uzumaki died earlier this evening between the hours of 9pm and 10pm, while on a mission to protect his village."_

_In that one moment the sanity in the room shattered and plunged it into an unearthly silence. _

"_D-dead?" Tears began to spill down Sakura's cheeks, "But…he…I-I just spoke to him this morning…"_

"_Sakura." Ino ran up to her friend and grasped her as her legs gave out pulling both of them to the floor. Lee was in shock, rivets of tears cascading down his face._

"_No…not Naruto, he was always too stubborn to die, he can't be!" Kiba's face was flushed and flecked with tears. His expression was a contorted mixture of anger and sorrow, both emotions fighting for dominance. Shino placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, a single tear sliding down his own face. Hinata was crying next to Tenten who was holding her gently._

_Choji had fallen back on to the couch with his head in his hands, tears dripping onto the floor. "N-Naruto." Shikamaru hadn't moved, his face still staring in disbelief. Feeling something on his cheek he hesitantly raised his hand. He pulled it back and stared at the glistening drops on his trembling hand. His brain had stopped, no thoughts, nothing. Slowly he fell back onto the couch next to Choji shaking._

_Neji was leaning against the wall, as he doubted whether he could stay standing on his own. Naruto, the one who had changed his life, who had saved him, was gone. He couldn't process the thought. Tears poured down his face, like he was letting his emotions run out with them. Neji Hyuuga was crying._

_Everyone could barely take it, Naruto, the loud mouthed dobe was gone, and he was never coming back. However__,__ as crushed as they were, no one was prepared for Sasuke's reaction._

"_No, he can't be dead, he can't be! You're lying!" He cried desperately._

"…_Sasuke-kun…" whimpered Sakura as she gazed at her team-mate._

_The raven had fallen to his knees and was shaking uncontrollably, grasping at his head with his hands his breath was coming in short ragged gasps and his eyes were wide. He shook his head. "NO YOU'RE LYING! HE'S NOT DEAD!"_

"_Sasuke, he's…"_

"_NO! DON'T LIE TO ME! HE'S COULDN'T BE DEAD! HE WOULDN'T BE DEAD! HE CAN'T DIE!" Sasuke was in hysterics, his tears soaking the front of his shirt. "HE…"_

"_Sasuke!"_

_Everyone's head turned to gaze at the doorway. Kakashi stood there, pain visible in his eye. Behind him stood the rest of their senseis. "Sasuke," Kakashi stated softly. "He's not coming back."_

_Kakashi's words seemed to slap Sasuke back to reality; he grew quiet and stared at the floor._

_Tsunade raised her head, she was crying again. "Have you told Iruka?" She was dreading to think of how this would affect the man. Naruto was like a son to him, they were so close and he was always there for Naruto when he was growing up. This would crush him._

"_Yeah I did. Understandably he didn't take it very well; his reaction was worse then Sasuke's. I've only just managed to calm him down a bit. I made Anko stay with him to make sure that he doesn't try anything, and I his state of mind I wouldn't put it past him." Sighed Kakashi._

_Tsunade wiped her eyes. "That's understandable; he was so close to Naruto, we're better off not leaving him on his own."_

"_How?"_

_Neji's question cut through the air like a knife. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Tsunade; she was quiet for a moment before she began talking._

"_Naruto was part of a 5 Anbu team sent on a mission to take out a simple B-ranked criminal. However the Nin was more powerful then predicted and things got out of hand. Naruto ordered his team to go while he dealt with him. The team obeyed but then went back to make sure that Naruto was coping. They got there just as he was killed, a kunai to the base of his skull, it killed him instantly. Then the enemy used explosive tags and blew up himself and the surrounding area. The team began searching for Naruto's body, but…there was nothing left to find, of the enemy or Naruto. His body had been totally annihilated. A-all, they…found was h-his mask…!" Tsunade pulled out Naruto's Anbu mask from her desk draw, it was cracked in places with dirt smeared over it, and parts of it were scorched from the explosion. "He h-had dropped i-it while he was fighting…" With her explanation finished she burst into tears again._

_Sasuke couldn't believe it. Why did everyone who he cared about disappear? First his family, then his brother and now his best friend. The one who looked out for him, brought him back…became his best friend. He couldn't take it anymore; the emotion strain on him was too much. With fresh tears streaming down his face he let out a heart-wrenching cry. The cry echoed over Konoha, filled with pain and sorrow. Naruto Uzumaki was dead. _

**FLASHBACK END**

**x-x-x-x-x**

The night wore on and they all celebrated for Naruto. True to his word Kiba had got drunk for Naruto, then proceeded to get drunk for himself, and was now completely and utterly wasted. Though he wasn't the only one, Ino and Sakura had also had a bit too much to drink and had spent half an hour trying to force Lee to drink alcohol, totally forgetting what would happen if they did. Some of the others were slightly tipsy, but were at least able to stand on their own, unlike Kiba who was being supported by an emotionless Shino who always got saddled with the job of getting Kiba home at the end of the night.

Eventually they decided that that was enough for one night and separated. Lee walked Ino and Sakura home while Shikamaru and Choji headed towards a late night Takeout because Choji was hungry. Due to the week long mission she had only just got back from that morning, Tenten was exhausted and had fallen asleep, and was now being carried home by Neji. Shino was hauling an out of his mind Kiba along followed by Hinata who could only smile at her moronic boyfriends antics. Their minds were empty of really anything except for the night out they had just had.

Except for one.

His mind was buzzing with questions, unanswered. He was thinking over things that he had not thought of for 7 years. For some reason he had had a flashback of the night they found out about Naruto. Now looking back he noticed things that he never noticed before. Somehow something didn't add up. It was common for Naruto to have missions without any of his friends on his team; he was after all an Anbu level ninja. But, why would he have sent his entire team back and go take on the enemy all by himself, of course it was well known that Naruto always put others safety before his own, but the enemy had only been a B-ranked ninja at the most. The recon teams and information gathers, had said that he was only a B-rank, so why did they get it wrong. Based on what Naruto's team had said it was quite obvious that he was higher then a B-rank, so then how could they get it so wrong, it was a mistake that had a 1 in a 100 chance of happening. The 2nd in command had said that Naruto had been killed by a kunai to the base of the skull. He shook his head. No. Naruto would never have been killed by something as simple as a kunai; he was way too skilled a ninja. Also if the enemy was as powerful as they reported then he would have sought help from the Kyuubi, the team would have felt its chakra and reported it when they returned. They also said that when they went back, Naruto's body was destroyed in an explosion initiated by the enemy Nin which not only destroyed Naruto but him as well. But that doesn't make any sense. If the Nin had already killed Naruto and was as powerful as they say then why would he have blown himself up? What kind of guy kills his enemy then kills himself?

Obsidian eyes flickered to the moon glowing softly in the night sky. '_No. something is wrong and I'm going to find out what.' _With that Sasuke Uchiha disappeared, already on his way to the Hokage's office.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Hokages Office**

"Innocent…What…what are you talking about…?" whispered Tsunade in disbelief.

Jiraiya sighed and bowed his head. "Exactly what I just said. The members of Akatsuki were not at fault for what they did. They are innocent."

"No that can't be! After everything that they've done! Gaara, all the people they've killed! You tell me that it wasn't Hidan who slaughtered Asuma!" Cried Tsunade.

"No, I won't deny that they have done all those things. But they had no choice in their actions."

"Oh really! Hmm let me see I could either kill this man and get what I want or I could not kill this man and still get what I want! They had every choice in the matter! Those actions were they're own! Think of the invasion and everything that they are doing to try and get Nar… that they did to get Naruto."

"Tsunade-hime they were being controlled."

"Oh they… Wait, controlled?"

"The rings."

Tsunade frowned at his answer. "What do you mean the rings?"

"That's what was controlling them and making them do the things that they do." Jiraiya turned to look at her. She stared back at him. He was serious, there was no trace of idiotic pervert that he usually was, he wasn't playing around.

"Well if that's what controlling them, then who's controlling the rings?"

"That's the problem, it's Madara."

"What! Madara! Shit this could be extremely bad! How do you know this?!"

Jiraiya shifted his position. "First I need a sip of that sake." Tsunade passed him the bottle and he took a long sip.

"A couple of years ago my spy network picked up a rumour. A rumour that something was happening inside the Akatsuki, while on missions they had started acting strangely, like being confused with what they were doing or not being able to finish their missions due to not wanting to do what they were doing."

"Wait, hold on a minute, you just said a couple of years ago, how many years was that?" interrupted Tsunade

He nodded "6 years ago was when they first heard this. This was just before they disappeared."

"Hmmm" Tsunade knew about that. 6 years ago the Akatsuki mysteriously disappeared, just like that without a trace. No clues were left, no trace of them was ever found after that. Their disappearance was one of the biggest mysteries to hit the shinobi countries. Every hidden village had dispatched teams to discover their where-a-bouts; you know with them being one of the biggest dangers to hit the shinobi counties ever, who wouldn't be worried if they suddenly vanished. But what she was hearing now was news to her.

"6 years ago huh? Why didn't you mention this to me?"

"Well after they vanished I didn't think that it was worth pulling it back up again and also because I wanted to investigate it myself." Came the reply

She looked at her team-mate. "Well I can't believe that you didn't tell me but oh well, I'll hit you later for it. But now, what did you do?"

"I assigned a couple of my spies to watch them; the results that they turned up with were quite interesting."

"Such as?"

"Well, they reported that various members were experiencing problems with their minds and memories. Sometimes they wouldn't know what they were doing, other times they would become horrified with things that they have done and go crazy. Headaches, confusion, memory loss, sudden realisation of past events, it all pointed towards mind manipulation. During one of the reports one of my men described it _'as though they were waking up'_. Then something happened."

"Explain now" frowned Tsunade as Jiraiya took another sip of sake.

"The other members just appeared. Randomly, over time they reappeared one by one."

"Other members? What are you on about I thought that there were only 10 members at the most?" asked Tsunade. "Unless you're telling me they started coming back to life." She stated sarcastically.

"That's exactly what I'm saying Tsunade."

Tsunade stopped. "What! What are you on about! They were well and truly dead!"

"Don't worry I'm getting it just bare with me. Okay?" Tsunade nodded.

"Anyway, the members that had been killed all returned to the hideout absolutely fine, like they hadn't even died at all. Then a couple of day later I lost all contact with the spy who was watching them at the time. Two days after that they all disappeared."

"Huh, then how do you know all this then if you lost contact with the spy?" Tsunade was getting confused; she was beginning to think that Jiraiya was having her on.

"Ahh but that's why I left a couple of weeks ago. One of my other men discovered him alive and well in a small trading village on the outskirts of the Land of Wind. Turns out the guy had stumbled into the village half dead with no idea who he was. The village leader said that he had clear signs of serious head trauma, so they patched him up, he stayed, got married and lives there perfectly fine."

"Well that would explain a lot."

"It sure does. So needing to find out what had happened I told the man that I knew him before he lost his memories and that he knew something important to all the hidden villages. Luckily the guy was very co-operative. I searched his memories using a mind jutsu and eventually found what I was looking for."

"What did you find?"

"6 years ago, on the day he had been watching the Akatsuki, it all kicked off. There was somewhat of a civil war, if you could call it that, between all the members and the one in the orange mask, Tobi, aka Madara. Somehow the control he had over the Akatsuki was broken. So basically, they woke up. I think that they had been fighting his influence for a while from what I saw. Anyway they got into a full scale fight; they were all trying to rip him apart, shouting about what he made them do. So that kinda made it clear that didn't choice to do anything. The puppet guy, what was his name?"

"Sasori," Tsunade reminded him.

"Yeah that's the one, from what I saw he was absolutely furious, he kept shouting about how Madara made him kill the only family he had left. Nagato was there too." Jiraiya paused and smiled. "After everything, he still kept to his belief, same as when he was a kid. From what I could tell, he was still in charge as they were all following him."

"What happened, did they kill Madara?"

"No, but they completely mauled him with everything they had, they got him pretty bad gave him a fair few wounds, but then Nagato did something strange. He told them not to kill him."

"He what? What did he want him alive for? Should've killed him first chance they got." Exclaimed Tsunade dryly.

"Heh, but it appears Nagato knew something. Wounded as he was Madara wouldn't be going anywhere fast, Nagato used a jutsu that I have never seen before. Then it became apparent why Nagato kept him alive. It wasn't Madara's body. He must have been using some kind of techniques similar to Orochimaru. Then Tobi's body began to split, Madara kind of diffused out of him, and even though he was covered in wounds he managed to escape." Jiraiya took another sip of sake.

"Hmm, could have been some kind of possession jutsu. But you said that he still had wounds, impaling that Madara still had a physical body when he separated. I've never heard of a jutsu that could do that. So Nagato knew about this, I take it that's the reason why he didn't kill him. So what about the other body, was he dead? And quit drinking all my sake!" Tsunade snatched the bottle out of Jiraiya's hand before sinking back into her chair.

"Tsunade-hime you're so mean! And as for the body he was far from dead. Because he was possessed by Madara, the jutsu he had used had greatly slowed down the boys own ageing system, he had only aged well under half the years that he should have, so if correct that would make him about 19-21 years old."

"You're talking about this boy as though you know him" scoffed Tsunade. Jiraiya grinned.

"That I do Hime, and I do believe that you will remember him too. Last you would have heard of him was that he died on a mission about 20 years ago."

"I would? Wait do you really expect me to know off the top of my head you pervert! Just tell me already!" she sighed.

"Obito Uchiha" the toad sage grinned.

"WHAT! You have got to be kidding me! Obito Uchiha. Well that's a shock. How in the name of Kami did that happen?"

"I have no idea. It seems that somehow Madara got hold of his body and was using it, but I think that it maybe had something to do with preserving his own body. But besides the wounds Obito seemed ok, plus he seemed pretty trusting of the Akatsuki and looked like he was going to leave with them. That was all I saw because then that's when the man blacked out." finished Jiraiya.

"Did you see the reason why?"

Jiraiya began to laugh. "What's so funny?" demanded Tsunade.

"I think you'll like this, he was knocked unconscious, but not by the Akatsuki, they had no idea he was there, nor by Madara or any human!"

"Oh for the love of KAMI! WHAT WAS IT!" cried Tsunade, who was getting ticked off.

"A rock."

"…a rock. Are you messing with me?"

Jiraiya threw his hands up defensively. "No No No! It was a rock. The guy was so occupied by what the Akatsuki was doing, a rock had fallen loose from the cliff face he was standing near and it hit him smack on the head!"

"Your spy was watching one of the most dangerous organisations to hit the shinobi countries, and he was taken out but a rock…Jeez that was pretty pathetic" giggled Tsunade.

"Ha! It was" replied Jiraiya laughing as well. "But there was something that I didn't understand. During the fight, there was another with them. A figure in black, he was wearing a long cloak with the hood up so I didn't see his face, but I'm positive that he was the one responsible for the breaking of Madara's control, and the Akatsuki seemed pretty ok with him, like they knew him."

"A figure in black huh? Well I take it he disappeared with Akatsuki?"

"I guess so."

"Then we don't need to worry about him." replied Tsunade as she got out of her chair.

"Hmmm I supp....OW!! What the hell was that for Hime!" cried Jiraiya as he clutched at his head where Tsunade had smacked him.

"That! Was for not telling me any of this and also for drinking my sake!"

"Well then what do u says we go out tomorrow and I'll buy you some. Is that a good enough apology?" he whined. Tsunade smirked.

"It may just suffice."

***--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Ahhh done…now I can go stuff my face with chocolate.**

**Well there it is I hope you all like it. I've always like the idea of the Akatsuki actually being good because I love them to bits but I never had an explanation how, well now I do. **

**So in the next chapter what will become of Sasuke's quest for the truth and something takes place that will shake the very foundations of Konoha...so tune in next time for the next instalments of Promises!!!!!**

**(By the way if you think that I just sounded like a complete moron just now, then your probably right XD)**

***--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------***

**Naruto: ooooooh even though I'm dead I'm really getting into this!!**

**Sasuke: Hn I already knew that my jerk of a brother was innocent.**

**?????? : Well that wasn't very nice foolish little brother.**

**Sasuke: *slaps face…Oh for the love of Kami, what the hell are you doing here!**

**Itachi: Can't a loving older brother come and see his widdle baby brother sometimes?**

**Sasuke: Hn**

**Naruto: Itachi!!!! Were you unhappy that I died too?!**

**Itachi: Of course I was Naru-chan who wouldn't **

**Naruto: *runs off for ramen**

**Sasuke: M.I.N.E**

**Itachi: Heh we shall see little brother.**


	4. AUTHORS NOTE

**IMPORTANT ANNOUCMENTS AND SOME RAMBLING UP AHEAD, INCLUDING WHETHER THIS FIC WILL BE A YAOI OR NOT**

**Sasuke:** Sorry guys, this isn't a chapter…this note has been purposely written so that the retarded author can grovel to you….

**Nightwing99:** I'M SOOOOOO SORRY!!!!! I'm sorry that I haven't written the next chapter! I'm such a bad author!

**Sasuke:** Yes, bad author…*smacks me round the head

**Nightwing99:** *grabs head….Ahhh jeez what was that for!!

**Sasuke:** Well it was the perfect opportunity.

**Nightwing99:** *mumbles…bastard Uchiha…

**Sasuke:** Well you deserved it for keeping your readers waiting, it's not nice.

**Nightwing99:** Pfft, LOOK! IT'S ITACHI!! *points in a random direction

**Sasuke:** WHERE!? *runs off screaming about revenge or something weird like that

**Nightwing99:** Yay! That got rid of that moron. Anyway, I have done about ¾ of the chapter, so it won't be long until I eventually upload the god damn thing…..so, instead for now I'll answer some of the questions asked in the reviews, and just overall replies. (By the way every reviewer gets a cookie!!)

**x-x-x-x-x**

**bLaCkxxxRoS3****-** I'm glad you like it, they are terrible then they are fighting over the last cupcake, last was a bloodbath…

**litewarior4****-** ah the question about Hidan's religion is a very good one. Basically, yes his religion demands death and yes he does still kill, but in regards to this I am taking it back all the way to when he was still in his village. Since his village had decided to become peaceful, they didn't like the fact that Hidan was part of this religion, so they hassled him and crap, even though he hadn't killed any of the villages. Instead he focused on criminals, random missing-nin and other people who had done wrong things, that way he could still sacrifice them and have fun doing it… (that sounds wrong XD) In the end he snapped and killed the villagers because they had just gone too far. So after that he was recruited into the Akatsuki. Later in the story I will explain more about it lmao.

**10wolves****-** Oooooh the person in the black cape…..very mysterious that he is….

**tundrasretreat****-** Nuuu don't hurt me! Or I will set Reno on you!

**iamalex117****-** Haha no don't worry it isn't the 4th Hokage, but he will be mentioned a good bit in later chapters =]

**RoXaS707****-** NUUU I wants mah cookie!!!!

**x-x-x-x-x**

Now on to the important bit….the yaoi-ness!!

Since I couldn't decided whether or not to make it a yaoi fic I left it up you guys, annnnnd I think *looks back over reviews that it **WON'T** be a yaoi… sorry guys who did want it to be a yaoi……**BUT!** If you like I could write a one shot yaoi based on the NarutoX pairing of your choice =]

**Nightwing99:** *scratches head So I think that's everything the needs mentioning, so I …

**Sasuke:** …You. Are. So. Dead

**Nightwing99:** Er……Thatsalliwillputthechapterupifimanagetosurvivethiscya!!! *runs away

**Sasuke:** DAMNIT!!! You get back here right now that that I can throw you at the nearest wall!!! *chases after

**Itachi:** *walks on……Ku ku ku ku


	5. Discoveries

***flails!!**

**YEAH!! It is finally done! I'm soooooo sorry for taking so long, I just came out of a Hetalia phase, so I found it near impossible to write for Naruto , please don't killz me T_T**

**Anyway I need to mention my fabulous reviews who have stuck with me and my terrible lack of chapter recently…sooooo here we got**

**Dominican Kitsune**

**MoonPrincess623**

**hentailover75**

**AmayaNight**

**bLaCkxxxRoS3**

**lia no demon**

**Rath**

**diaryanjo****- **Ya no, if it was a yaoi that would probably have been what I would have done lol

**VampireGaaraCheesepuffs****- **Haha Gaara and cheesepuffs, love it!

**kynxx**

**puffdadder**

**raineynight****- **Sorry but I'm really awkward and only write yaoi for pairings that I support, I find it hard to write them otherwise :S

**MoonJewel**

**kdunc15**

**JessMess**

**Orpheus Thanatos Messiah****- **Nuuu we must take the boxers off! Only then will the mighty Itachi-sama be appeased!!!

**Also this is a special shoutout to ****RoXaS707**** who gave me cake and ice-cream, therefore they get two bars of chocolate and a hug XD**

**Also at the end of this chappie there will be a small preview for my next upcoming story, WHICH WILL BE A YAOI, but it is a Kingdom Hearts Fic and the pairing shall be the almighty AkuRoku!!**

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

**Naruto:** It's about time you uploaded this you naughty author!! You should be ashamed of yourself!!

**Nightwing99:** *bows head….I'm sorry...hey if I give you this ramen am I forgiven?

**Naruto:** RAMEN?! HELLZ YES!!!

**Nightwing99: **…well that was easy.

**Sasuke:** Hn you shouldn't take advantage of his addiction.

**Nightwing99:** I'm not taking advantage…just playing to his weaknesses…

**Sasuke:** Whateve…. Wait who the hell are you?!

**Rufus:** Rufus ShinRA and I'm here for the disclaimer.

**Sasuke:** EH! You're not even in this anime or the fic!!

**Rufus:** Well im rich, so that's why, now where do I put this dis…

**Naruto:** WHOSE HE???

**Rufus:** Oh for the love of Jenova!!

**Nightwing99:** Just below is fine.

**Rufus:** OK! Nightwing99 doesn't own any of the fools in this weirdo story in this weirdo world of...er… ninjas? Ninjas!? WHY ARE THEY NINJAS!!!?

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Tsunade was happy. Jiraiya had just left; there was no Shizune, no paperwork, only her, a bottle of sake and 20 minutes all to herself. She couldn't be better. Relaxing back into her chair, she made herself comfortable. She was just raising the bottle to her lips when suddenly the door flew open.

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Being caught at her desk with a bottle of sake automatically switched Tsunade into 'Oh Shit its Shizune' mode. Nearly spilling sake all down her front in a terrible effort to hide it, she looked up to see none other than Sasuke Uchiha panting in her doorway.

"Uchiha!" she scowled, realising that she panicked for no reason AND wasted sake. "What the hell do you think you're playing at! Do you know what time it is!"

"Sorry Tsunade-sama, I need the last mission report file on Naruto!" Sasuke gasped.

Tsunade's expression softened, sadness creeping into her eyes. "Sasuke…I…"

"No! Tsunade-sama this time I really have something!"

Poor boy. Naruto's death had really hit him hard. This hadn't been the first time this had happened. Those times Tsunade had pitied him and given him the file, she would watch him as he sat going over that report for hours, searching for things that weren't there. But now she had to put her foot down, looking at that report was doing nothing for his mentality.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but you can't keep doing this. It won't change anything, so I suggest that you just go home."

"But…" he argued.

"No! I'm sorry but that is my final word. Goodnight Sasuke." At that Tsunade swept past him and started down the hall.

"He didn't use the Kyuubi!"

Tsunade stopped and turned to face the young Uchiha. "No he didn't. But that doesn't change anything. Please Sasuke you have got to stop digging in the pas…"

"No! You don't understand! Granted that the enemy Nin was stronger then first thought that would have given Naruto even more reason to defeat him, so he would have at least used a little bit of the Kyuubi's chakra!"

Tsunade stared at him. "Explain."

Relived that Tsunade was at least now willing to hear him out, he continued with renewed determination.

"The purpose of that mission was to eliminate that Nin, because he was a threat to the village. So if the Nin was stronger then first thought that would mean that he was a bigger threat to the village, therefore Naruto would have pulled out all the stops to prevent harm to the village especially since there was a chance he could get seriously hurt. Even going as far as…"

"…using the Kyuubi," breathed Tsunade, now understanding what the Uchiha was getting at.

"You see it doesn't make sense and there's more!" exclaimed the raven.

"Continue." Came the reply. Sasuke nodded.

"The recon and spy teams that were watching this guy predicted that he was B-rank right? But when it came to fight him, the team said that it was immediately obvious that he was A- ranked at least. Don't you find it odd that all of the recon and spy teams managed to make to same mistake, which has a 1 in 100 chance of happening?! Even those who engaged in battle with him said that he was no more then B-rank. So why would that suddenly change as soon as Naruto meet him!" Sasuke paused to catch his breath.

"Besides Naruto was not the kind of guy to be taken out by some mere kunai."

Tsunade studied him. The raven had really put some thought into it this time, he was asking questions that others hadn't, and he was right. It didn't make sense.

"Uchiha, come with me."

"Huh, to where?"

"To get the last mission report on Naruto Uzumaki. You're right, something doesn't add up and we are going to find out what. Now move it!" Sasuke grinned and bolted down the hall after the Hokage.

**x-x-x-x-x**

The next morning in was the same as any other morning, accompanied with the sights and sounds of village life, young academy students hurrying to class, market hours, genin teams on missions, training or just plain relaxing. The latter was one that a certain jonin was concentrating on now.

Head resting on his arms, Shikamaru lay comfortably on his back gazing at the clouds. He had escaped work for a bit and was lulling over the thoughts that were floating around his head. Recently he'd received reports of a group taking on multiple missions from other villages. Though it was not directly confirmed, the group contain people who were shinobi or at least had shinobi training. Although, they were very good and often completed missions to the highest quality. It was unsure how large or small in number this group was but Shikamaru was unfazed, they posed no threat to Konoha and were just some freelance group. The problem was that they were getting quite popular and were being offered more and higher ranking missions, which could cause the village problems in the long run.

Sighing, the young Nara shook the thought out of his head. He had a far more depressing thought to worry about. The ghastly sand woman was coming.

The Kazekage always visited Konoha the day after the anniversary of Naruto's death every year without fail. So that meant that Kankuro and that fan wielding she-devil would be coming as well. Seriously he didn't know why his mother fawned over her that. I mean sure she had had a positive influence on him, but she wasn't that great… He sighed again, "Better not think about things like that because odds are she'll find out somehow…so troublesome."

So deciding to ignore everything, he muttered something about being troublesome and closed his eyes. Finally relaxing, he was just perfect when… "Nara-san! There you are! I've been looking for you for ages. Tsunade-sama has called an emergency meeting; she wants you there right away!"

Groaning Shikamaru lazily opened one eye to see Izumo standing over him. "Whaaaat?" he grumbled, closing his eye again. "Don't play that card with me! You very well know what I said, so I suggest you move it before Tsunade decides to use you as target practice. Besides, I think that this could be important, she's been acting very strange."

"Fine, I'm going."

Izumo shook his head as Shikamaru wandered away muttering a wide range of words under his breath. "He'll be hearing words worse than that if he doesn't get a move on" he muttered.

Neji, wandered through the busy streets, Hinata walking beside him. Both had been in the middle of a morning training session in the forest out past the Hyuuga compound. Hiashi deemed this necessary due to the amount of damage Hinata tended to cause to the training courtyard during spars. These spars were not just training or fights to the two shinobi, but a way of understanding. Over the years Neji and Hinata had come to understand each other, so well that for the duration of the fights no words were spoken. None were needed. Neji could just read her, just like that and vice-versa. This morning had been no different to any other, until they were interrupted an emergency summons by the Hokage. So they now found themselves making their way through the crowded streets.

"Ano, Neji, why do you think Tsunade-sama called an emergency meeting?

Neji gave her a side ways glance. "I'm not sure Hinata; there hasn't been an emergency meeting since… well for a long time." Hinata didn't reply, instead she turned her gaze back to the street, before noticing a group of people in front of them.

"Ah, Sakura, Ino, Choji, good morning" she smiled in greeting.

"Hmm, oh hey Hinata, Neji, where are you off to?" grinned Ino as she waved.

"We're heading for the Hokage Tower, we had an emergency summons." Neji stated.

"Huh…same here, in fact I think the summons went out to many people, though I don't know too much about it as I haven't seen Tsunade-sama all morning." Sakura frowned, something was going on.

"Hey guys I think I figured out who else got the summons." Choji pointed to Kiba, Shino, Lee and Tenten, who were walking down the street towards them. "You didn't happen to get the emergency summon by any chance did you?"

"Whoooa, déjà-vu much!" exclaimed Kiba as he halted in front of them. "What's going on, we haven't had an emergency summons for years!"

"Kiba is correct! Plus I haven't seen any signs of problems in the village, everything is normal." Lee flicked his hair out his eyes as he gestured round with his hand.

"This just makes thing even weirder… something is going on, we should go" Sakura continued on with Ino, and everyone fell in step behind.

When they finally reached the Tower, they were directed to the council chambers, for the room was sometimes used for large meetings other than council meetings.

"Father? What are you doing here?" They rounded the corner to see Shikamaru talking to Hiashi in anxious tones.

"Uncle." Neji bowed his head in greeting. Hiashi returned the gesture. "It appears when Tsunade declared a meeting, she sent out summons to everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Basically, everyone. You guys, the Elders, the Clan Heads, anyone who has any ties to the council." Interrupted a voice. They turned round to see Sai leaning casually against a wall.

"Sai? I didn't think you back until next week?"

"Nee Ugly I finished early… calm down Sakura I was joking."

Still fuming Sakura wiggled her arm that she had raised to pummel Sai with out of Lees grasp.

"Hmp, fine then whatever, I thought you would have grown up a bit by now…you and your freaky smile…"

Sai joined the group. "Mah, now that wasn't very nice. Anyway, you should get in that room soon, its all about to kick off."

"Eh? Kick off? That the heck are you on about?"

"He means Kiba, that we think Tsunade is going to do something…and I don't think it will please everyone." Drawled Shikamaru. Kiba opened his mouth to ask what the hell the lazy ass was on about, but was interrupted by a call from Shizune. Silently they filed into the chambers, the doors banging shut behind them.

**x-x-x-x-x**

The chime of bells rang through the rustling trees, the wind catching a hold of it. Softly two figures walked side by side through the sheltered forest, their cloaks swaying gently around them, the pay from their last mission clasped in one's hand.

"Nee, I think he's giving us these easy ones deliberately now just to be funny, it's getting old." One of them scowled

"Hn, stop complaining, the quicker we get them done the quicker we can leave." Came his partners reply.

"But, why can't he give us one of the better mission, everyone else is something good! I'm beginning to get bored."

Sighing, the other glanced at his partner. " Well maybe you forgot, but you and that moron of a partner of yours were split up and sent on these missions for blowing a hole in his room, I think that is sufficient enough to warrant this punishment, unfortunately I ended up being dragged along as well to make sure you didn't die or something. So please quit your complaining."

The other figure huffed, but didn't say anything; instead his partner spoke again, his voice turning serious.

"However I hear there are rumours of something stirring in the remains of Otogakure.

"Otogakure huh… that could be a problem for us in the future. Are we taking any action?"

"No, we are being given orders to stay away from that place, it has nothing to do with us, and neither do we want to get involved. We are content as we are and it is better that way."

"I guess some things will never go away…"

Silence took over as the two disappeared in the darkness of the forest. The chimes floating softly on the breeze, the only indication that they were ever there.

**x-x-x-x-x**

When his uncle had said everyone, he meant everyone. Neji sat in a seat between Lee and Shikamaru, everyone else spread either side. The Clan heads sat round the table next to them, followed by the Civilian Council and other council members opposite. The jounin sensei's and a variety of chunin were scattered around the room. At the head of the table sat Tsunade with the Elders on one side and Danzo on the other. Sasuke stood close behind Tsunade. Neji narrowed his eyes, why was Sasuke there, why wasn't he sat with them and why was he so skittish, he looked like he was waiting for someone to jump out at him. Neji nudged Shikamaru nodding his head at the Uchiha. Shikamaru merely nodded in return, his own eyes fixed on Sasuke.

"Tsunade? What is the meaning of this meeting, I have heard of no emergency?" Homura spoke from his place next to Tsunade.

"Yes. I think that is a question we all want the answer to…"

Tsunade glared at Danzo. "You are here because saw fit to call this emergency meeting. I have something very important to discuss, so you would do well not to question me Danzo!"

"So what is you wish to tell us Lady Tsunade?" asked Tsume

Tsunade was silent for a moment; she glanced at Sasuke in silent conversation. _'Yes. This is it.'_ Raising her head she gazed over the people seated around the table.

"I have called this meeting because Sasuke and I have come across a major issue which must be investigated immediately; I am making this an S-classed priority!"

There was a collective gasp from around the table.

"An S-class priority! Tsunade-sama just what is this issue!" exclaimed Iruka, who was stood next to Kakashi behind Sakura.

Suddenly everyone was talking at one, murmurs growing louder until there was just a blur of voices.

"SILENCE!"

The noise ceased and all heads turned to the now standing Hokage. "If you all want be quite for at least 1 minute then I'll tell you!" she raged. "Alright listen up. Sasuke and I came across some evidence that suggests that there were some major flaws in a past failed mission. These flaws caused us to come to a totally different conclusion, which could quite possibly be all wrong. This evidence bought new things to light which suggest that the mission was deliberately tampered which, resulting in fatal consequences!"

"Tsunade-sama… What are you saying" came the monotone voice of Shikamaru, even though he had already grasped the meaning behind her words.

"I'm saying that the mission was deliberately fixed to fail, it was a planned action. Sasuke the file."

All eyes watched Sasuke as he withdrew the file from within his uniform and placed it in Tsunade's waiting hand.

Shock raced round the room, shattering the previous aggressive atmosphere.

"B-but that's…that's" Iruka's choked whisper penetrated the silence.

Tsunade slammed the file down on the table, its contents partly spilling out. "As of now I'm reopening the last mission case file on Uzumaki Naruto! As of now, this case will be treated as murder!"

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

**Dun, dun duuuuuun *gasp, Murder?!**

**Well it's starting to get serious now!**

**XD This is a note just incase if anyone wanted to do any fan art on any of my stories, then that's great! You don't need my permission or anything, just credit the story to me and note me so I can take a peak at it ^-^**

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

**Naruto:** BANG!!!

**Nightwing99:** What the hell was that for?!

**Naruto:** *shrugs… I dunno, I just wanted to do something spontaneous…

**Nightwing99:** ¬_¬

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

**Ok here's the preview for my new upcoming Kingdom Hearts fic, take a gander if you like, and let me know what'cha think of it XD It will be a yaoi with the pairing AkuRoku. Enjoy!**

**Organisation Chibi**

Roxas couldn't believe it, any of it. In all honesty he was still in complete and utter shock. He turned his head to look at Axel. The red head wore the same expression as he did. A 'What The Fuck' look. The keyblade wielder switched his gaze back to the scene in front of him. Impossible, it was just impossible, but then again when it came to Vexen's experiments anything could happen. And this time, it did. It wasn't unusual for Vexen's experiments to be made of totally and epic fail, where everything that could go wrong goes wrong. But this time things had totally gone wrong, so wrong that it made Demyx's retarded-ness look normal. Roxas just stared at the now 'chibi-ized' Melidonious Noctune as he ran round in pointless circles making 'nee naw' noises before smashing into the back of a Chibi-ized Xaldin who flipped out and started chasing the Chibi Demyx round the room, before tripping over his own feet, crashing into Demyx who crashed into Marulxia who grabbed Larxene as he fell and all of them then proceeded to demolish a defenceless coffee table.

Roxas gulped. The blonde and the red head glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing.

They were so fucked.

**x-x-x-x-x**


	6. IMPORTANT

Hey guys!! XD

Really sorry if you were expecting another chapter, but I feel that it is only fair to you amazing guys out there who have read and reviewed this story that I explain the reasons why I have not updated in months.

As of now this story will be on long term Hiatus until further notice. I'm so sorry but I think that you deserve a reason as to why I have come to this decision.

In all honesty…I have just lost inspiration for this story. I have done half of the next chapter but found it impossible to finish as my mind just isn't really with Naruto at the moment. Sorry guys but Hetalia has taken over and doesn't seem to be gong away anytime soon.

Usually I flitter in-between different animes for short periods of time. But unfortunately Hetalia has become my favourite anime and I'm finding very hard to concentrate on Naruto anymore, my mind just isn't in it…

BUT!!!!!

Lmao there is a but; this story will not be abandoned!! I have the story all planned out I just can't write it, and I would never dream of just stopping. Because in my opinion there is nothing more then really getting into a story and then having the author abandon it, so I won't do that to you guys.

Rest assured this story will be finished at some point, just as soon as I can get back into it.

Anyhoo, thank you guys for all of you who read, reviewed and alerted me or this story I really appreciate it and I love reading the reviews you send me. So hopefully I will be able to get this story hiatus soon, but I will still continue to write fanfics.

XD Probably continue my KH one and some Hetalia ones I have started.

Well then, Ja ne XD


	7. Revelations

**WHAT'S THIS? I LIVE! Holy crap after god knows how long I'm finally here with an update. See I told you I won't let this story go XD Plus I've finally managed to get back into the Naruto fandom… now that's it's sort of calmed down that is…¬_¬**

**I'm so sorry that it's taken me this long to sort myself out, and to everyone who has taken the time to read my story, favourite, alert and even comment I owe you guys a big thank you. So as a terrible attempt at grovelling for your forgiveness this chapter is quite a long one. Although after this one, they will be a bit little bit shorter, but will be updated more frequently. **

**So at last I present you with chapter 4 of Promises! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or any of the characters.**

**Revelations**

"Tsunade! You can't be serious? The case was closed, this is preposterous!" Koharu cried from her seat. She had been the first to say anything after Tsunade's shock announcement. "What evidence do you have to support this accusation?"

Kakashi let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding in. 'Tsunade better have pretty strong evidence for this, if she didn't it would kill them.' Wordlessly he glanced over the younger ninja, Naruto's friends. If this turned out to be a complete mistake, then he didn't know if they would be able to take it, especially the ones like Sakura and Hinata, and Sasuke, Sasuke most of all. It would tear him apart. None of them had said a word; emotions raced across their faces, shock couldn't describe what they were feeling now. Turning to look at the man next to him, Kakashi wasn't in the least bit surprised to see the same emotion on his face. Iruka wouldn't be able to take it either. Finally some of the others began to come to their senses.

"Tsunade-sama, are you sure this is the right thing to do?" asked Hiashi. "Think about how this could affect some of those here." He shot his daughter and nephew a glance out the corner of his eye, noticing they still hadn't moved he sighed. "Please Tsunade-sama, think about this."

"Tsunade-sama, we all know what the boy meant to you, but what makes you think that things will change this time around?" spoke Shikaku.

Instead of answering him, Tsunade threw the file, watching as it slid to a halt in front of him. Shikaku looked at her questioningly. "Read." Was all he got.

Opening the file that he had read many times before, he began scanning the pages. Silence descended on the room, everyone's eyes on Shikaku as he read through the file held in his hands, finally his eyes came to rest upon the newly added page. Suddenly his eyes went wide and his breath stopped. The tension in the room grew; the atmosphere was suffocating as they waited for the jounin to give react, to show at least something.

"…T-Tsunade-sama…how is this possible. I was part of the initial investigation myself! Half this stuff I've never even seen, none of these discoveries were ever made!"

"What are you talking about Shikaku!" growled Tsume in agitation from across the table. Said jounin glanced up at the Hokage who was leaning back in her chair a hard look on her face, she nodded.

Nodding in return, Shikaku returned to the file in his shaking hands. "Mission Profile: Naruto Uzumaki, Anbu status, Leader of a 5 man squad carrying out a B-rank mission. Died in actio…"

"Yes we know all that! Why is this time any different!"

Ignoring Tsume's outburst Shikaku carried on. "Previous cause of death- Killed by enemy Nin. New evidence discovered. New cause of death murder… Information of enemy relied to Uzumaki was false, information stated enemy was of B-rank status, upon interviewing surviving squad members the Nin was said to have been most defiantly of A-rank status."

"Thank you Shikaku". Nodding he placed the no closed file gently on the table.

"Tsunade-sama, this is an unjust waste of time. I see no reason how something that insignificant could be used to open out a long closed investigation." Came Danzo's slimy voice, he was getting annoyed.

"Danzo, you will be silent." Was Tsunade's response. It shut him up pretty quick. (AN: Sorry but while writing this line I had a vivid image of Tsunade hitting Danzo with a frying pan….)

"The difference in power level is too high to be a mistake. All our recon teams are of the highest quality, especially those sent to investigate those which are a threat to our village. For the teams to make a mistake such as that is nearly impossible. Furthermore, the original mission report states that Naruto's squad saw him killed by a kunai to the base of the head, killing him instantly."

"But that is understandable, a hit from a kunai in a place like would kill nearly everyone, even as someone as powerful as Naruto." He wasn't trying to prove Tsunade wrong, but Hirashi felt that he needed to make sure that this was not just another false lead before a proper investigation began. For everyone's sake. Tsunade nodded, understanding the reasons behind his statement.

"I understand, but there are two things wrong with that report. One, as you said, Naruto was powerful, therefore he was too skilled to be kill by a simplistic attack like that."

"And two?"

"Satoshi Inoue was a strong follower of the distant Niwa clans fighting style. Their style demands only the use of body in battle, with the exception of the nunchucks. They do not carry any other weapons…including kunai. This makes it impossible for Naruto to have been killed by a kunai that the enemy wouldn't have been carrying." Tsunade finished with a smirk as Danzo growled lowly in defeat.

"And for anyone else here who still needs convincing, then just take a look at who was leading the investigation."

All eyes turned to Shikaku who was sitting subdued as he stared at the folder in front of him. Abruptly Chouza leapt to his feet.

"Tsunade-sama just what are you implying here? That Shikaku fixed this! He is one of our greatest minds! How can you think to suggest that he is involved in this!"

A small smile graced Tsunade's lips. "But that's just it Chouza, he is one of our greatest minds, and that's what makes this ever so much more important."

"W-what?" Confusion blew over Chouza's face as he slowly fell back into his seat.

"Let me explain. Shikaku just himself said that he never saw any of this evidence. Don't you find that odd? Someone of his higher intelligence missing things like this. In other situations there would be no way he could have missed something as simple as things like that. Therefore it points towards inside interference. A person or persons in this village rearranging evidence and leads, and quite cleverly might I add to be able to fool Shikaku. These are the reasons and evidence I have to reopen this case.

Koharu rose to her feet. "Tsunade, you cannot just re…."

Determination gleaming in her eyes, Tsunade swiftly cut her off. "I propose a vote. All those in favour of the re-opening of this case, raise your hands."

With a satisfied smirk, she cocked her head in the direction of three, whose hands remained firmly in their laps. "It seems you're outnumbered. As of now, the mission case of Uzumaki Naruto has been re-opened!"

* * *

Sasuke leaned against the cool wood of the window frame, the pale moonlight ghosting the relaxed curves of his face. After the Hokages announcement, the news was official announced to the village, as expected there were a few mixed views on the subject. However it appeared that glares from Sakura were just as terrifying as her masters. The rest of the afternoon had been a flurry of movement. Tsunade had been dividing people up into teams and assigned them separate tasks, anything and everything that was related to Naruto was being investigated in hope that it could lead them to the truth, the truth that they had been denied for so many years.

Sasuke sighed as he clutched the cold object in his hand, the metal digging into his palm. He stared at the silver light reflecting off of the smooth metal of his headband, of the headband that Naruto had returned to him long ago. Without Naruto he wouldn't be where he was. Without Naruto he wouldn't have had the complete and utter shit beat out of him (By the way he was still pissed at Naruto for that….Naruto's kicks hurt…) Twitching, his lips formed a small smile. Naruto didn't give up on him, no matter what happened. So Sasuke wouldn't give up on him either. He would find out the truth, the reality behind what happened to his best friend, the one who had saved him from the darkness. His grip tightened. No. He wouldn't stop. Not until he knew the truth.

* * *

Birds flittered across the pale blue sky that rested over Konoha. Beneath it the Hokage tower was bustling with activity. The past two days had been nothing but teams coming and going, bringing in more and more new information everyday. Of course not all of it was helpful; in fact some of it was down right pointless. But none the less it was just as important as the stuff that was of use, it proved that they were one step closer.

That particular morning found Shikamaru slouched behind a desk, in a stuffy, dusty room, going through all the old recon reports. They were pretty much having a hard time tracking down the members of the recon teams that had been involved in Naruto's last mission. Groaning, the strategist threw his head back. They really needed to get an organiser in here…this place was a complete and utter mess, it was unbelievable. Huffing he glared at the papers in his hands. Where the files for that particular month should have been was instead an aging file for the team that was collecting information on some old man who was under suspicion of dumping grass clipping…from 40 years ago!

"Laying back on the job, why am I not surprised?"

Pulling himself back into a normal sitting position, Shikamaru looked up to see Temari leaning against the door frame, the trace of a smile gracing her lips.

"You're early."

"What? Nothing wrong with a bit of spontaneity every now and again. Unlike you, who even in a situation such as this is still lazing around."

"I take it you know about the re-opening of Naruto's case file?"

With a sigh the sand shinobi nodded, walking forwards she settled on his desk. "Just got out of a meeting with the Hokage, Gaara's still up there."

"How'd he take it?"

"He's upset. I know he is. Even if he doesn't show it, Gaara's always been hard to read. Naruto's death hit him hard, and I don't think that he ever really got over it, that kid did so much for him, something that Gaara will never forget. Now to know that Naruto could have been mur-" Stopping she sighed unable to finish her sentence.

Shikamaru watched as her gaze flickered over to the window, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _'So troublesome' _he hauled himself out of the chair and pulled Temari into a loose hug.

"It hit us all hard, especially now there's the possibility that he was murdered." Temari laid her head against his chest. "But now we will finally know the truth, because I for one am not going to stop searching for it."

Eyes widening, Temari glanced up at the shadow user. When had his resolve gotten that strong? She smiled; even in death Naruto's influence was still going strong. In one swift movement she'd slipped from Shikamaru's grasp and off the desk. "Right then! I've been here 3 hours and I have yet to see your mum, and you know how much I love your mum, so let's go!" With that she grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door.

"…great…"

* * *

"I will I help in any way that I can."

Tsunade nodded at the redhead sitting opposite her. Since the Kazekage's arrival a good few hours ago, Tsunade had informed Gaara of the new turn of events that had swept through the village. Not only as an act of duty to the still precarious alliance between the two villages but also out of personal compassion. The two Jinjuriki had been close, the only ones that could understand the pain that the other felt. Gaara had offered his help as soon as she had finished. "You need not have even had to ask". Sipping her sake, Tsunade smiled.

"I know. That response has been rather commonplace over the last few days. Just goes to show how important the brat was to so many people over the years. If anything I don't think I've seen some people so fired up in a long time." Aqua eyes studied her.

"I assume that you are referring to Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yes. He was the one that instigated this. He's refusing to let this go. A trait that months ago I would have pitied him for, but now, I'm so glad that he's a stubborn bastard. If not for him, then maybe we would never have known that there was a greater truth behind Naruto's death."

A comfortable silence fell over the two Kages. Allowing time for each to mull over the thoughts in their heads. Shifting his gaze Gaara broke the silence. "I have another reason for my visit Tsunade."

"Oh?"

"Two days ago one of our perimeter patrols reported a sighting along part of the Land of Wind's eastern boarder. They claimed that they saw two figures, both wearing black cloaks emblazoned with red clouds."

"…Akatsuki."

Gaara nodded. "The patrol attempted to follow, but lost them. They just vanished." He fixed his gaze on Tsunade. "This is the first sighting in over 6 years; no one knows where they've been, or what even happened to them. Now suddenly they've shown up, miles away from any kind of settlement and avoiding all human contact."

Tsunade digested this information. After 6 years they've suddenly appeared out of the woodwork. Not only was this mysterious in its own right, but combined with the information given to her by Jiraiya not more than 2 nights before only furthered her confusion. Turning her attention back to the young man sat in front of her she realised that Gaara would be an invaluable asset with this information.

"A few nights ago I was given some very interesting information via Jiraiya. The old pervert disappeared a couple of weeks ago on grounds of 'important work'; turns out he had discovered a previous spy who had gone missing from his network 6 years ago. He showed up out of the blue 2 nights ago with some very important material. Material relating to the Akatsuki."

"What kind of material?" With that, Tsunade proceeded to inform the redhead of her previous conversation with the Toad Sage, from the reanimated members to Obito Uchiha. Gaara sat and listened intently, not once interrupting Tsunade in her account. Upon finishing she looked at Gaara expectantly, trying to gauge his reaction from his seemingly emotionless expression.

"Just how do you value this information? On its own it seems like wild speculation, then combined with the missing man that you sourced this from it doesn't really warrant being completely reliable. Considering in a way you are suggesting the pardoning of a collection of S-ranked criminals that have caused a lot of pain not only in our own respective villages but also throughout a great deal of the shinobi lands and even beyond."

Although slightly shocked by the amount of words that Gaara had spoken in one sentence, she had been prepared for an answer like that, she would have said exactly the same, and thus she had a comeback and wasted no time in answering.

"For all his faults and downsides, he is still a brilliant man. If Jiraiya believes this, then so do I."

Gaara contemplated her answer before nodding. "If your belief lays with him, then so does mine. However, now taking this information into account we must assess what they're possible motives are and why they have finally decided to reveal themselves after all this time."

* * *

Sasuke sat nursing a cup of tea that had been all but forced into his hands by an irate Sakura with words of _'If you don't start looking after yourself then so help me I will render you unconscious and you will not be allowed to help at all Sasuke Uchiha!' _So now, Sasuke found himself leaning back in his chair on a break under the watchful gaze of the pinkette.

"Holy crap! Shikamaru wasn't kidding when he said that this place was unorganised. This is ridiculous! Somehow I've ended up with D-rank mission reports on chasing some women's cat...whoa that cat has been chased a hell of a lot of times…" Tenten all but threw the papers behind her grumbling incoherently. Kiba laughed.

"Aww come on Tenten, quit your bitching!"

"I'm not bitching! I'm merely making an acute observation on the sloppy filing system we seem to have in place."

"Sorry Kiba, Tenten's right this is awful"

"Quiet forehead, you're just going to encourage him"

"Forehead? Why don't you stay out of this Ino-pig!"

"Well at least my chest isn't as flat as my forehead!"

"Why you-"

So at that, the once hard working atmosphere fell into…well chaos. The two kunoichi flung insults at each other that progressively got worse. Kiba was serving as nothing more than an unhelpful spectator that cheered both sides on, oblivious to Hinata who was trying to calm him down and Tenten who was trying, emphasis on the word trying, to calm down both Ino and Sakura. Turning to the two other people in the room Tenten yelled over the fighting girls. "HEY! Do you two fancy, you know, helping me out here!"

Lazily opening one eye, and in what can only be described as a pathetic excuse of a movement, Sasuke lamely raised one hand and sort of waved it in the general direction of the two girls. "No…Sakura… Ino…don't…" he muttered feebly. Tenten just glared at him. He dropped his arm back to his side and closed his eyes once again. "Oh well I tried." At the other end of the table Neji ignored everything and just continued to shuffle through his papers. Huffing angrily to herself, Tenten grabbed hold of Sakura and attempted to pull her down.

The room was a cacophony of noise, everyone seemed to be shouting or making some kind of input into the ever raging fight between Ino and Sakura. So when Chouji walked in not 2 minutes later, he was met with a state of utter bedlam. To be honest he wasn't even fazed, shrugging he plonked himself down next to Sasuke, handing him a bag of crisps. "Well I see we're having a productive afternoon."

Sasuke snorted as he opened the bag. "When don't we."

"You know, I'm not even going to attempt to read anything with that racket going on." At that Chouji began the very satisfying task of munching his way through his first bag of crisps.

Neji focused on the words in front of him, having phased out the ensuing argument. They'd spent the best part of the day endeavouring to discover the details on the other members of Naruto squad that were present on his last mission. However, that was easier said than done. Nothing was in its right place; they were being met with a dead end at everything they had aimed at. It was as though they were inten- He paused. Then it hit him. Throwing himself up out of his seat he slammed a palm against the table. Everything ceased. "Neji?"

Ignoring Hinata he rushed round the table to where Tenten had been working. A quick glance of the papers enforced his theory.

"This isn't disorganised. In fact it's been incredibly well organised. That's why we can't find anything; everything that relates to Naruto isn't where it should be. Every time we look for something we're met with some random mission report or trivial piece of documentation. Don't you see, someone's trying to lead us away from what we're looking for. Look, it's only Naruto's files that are misplaced. One or two maybe, but everything? It is far too much of a coincidence. This had been done deliberately."

Getting down off the table, Ino hurried back to her pile of paperwork, ruffling through them she understood. "He's right! Look the files both before and after this one are in order, it's only this one that's different. It's subtle, but there."

As if some switch had been flicked on, everyone mirrored Ino's actions, with all coming to the same revelation. Chouji threw down his papers. "It's a set up. Someone's taken the time to do this; if they've taken the time to do all this then they must have something to hide."

"Then the files we're after could be anyway, they might have even been removed completely." Sakura looked at Ino. "Or even destroyed."

"No." The others glanced up at Sasuke. "They have to still be here, removing them completely would only enforce suspicion. If they just make it seem like a harmless misplacement of data then no one would feel the need to search for it. Search in unrelated places! Places that we wouldn't have even considered! They still have to be here somewhere!"

At that everyone sprung into action.

* * *

He had no idea how long he'd been sat up there, atop the Hokage monument. He couldn't say that he'd lost track of time, as he hadn't really been keeping it in the first place, and as the rays of the dying sun gently caressed his face he sighed. Glancing down at his hands he studied the item that he'd been holding. Carefully he stroked the frame of the battered pair of green goggles, remembering a time when they had been framed with blonde. He let out an empty chuckle. Look at him, holding on to a pair of old goggles all this time, getting all emotional over them. Oh how very shinobi like. But at the end of the day they were one of the only things that he had left to remember him by. Great, his vision was already starting to blur. _'You're an emotional old fool Iruka' _he thought to himself. The reopening of Naruto's file had shaken him. Naruto loved this village and just the thought that someone after all these years from within the village could have been responsible for the boy's death. Choking back a sob he clutched the goggles to his chest. The little boy that never let anyone put him down. The little boy that would cling to his legs, whose face would light up at the mere mention of ramen. The little boy that grew up to be a fine young man. The young man that Iruka couldn't have been prouder of. He began to shake. That boy. His little boy.

Kakashi sadly watched the man crumble, hunched over the goggles that he held desperately to his chest, sobbing his heart out. Leaning back into his hiding place in the tree he let the broken man have his moment to himself.

**11:30pm**

"Guys! I've found something!" Kiba's triumphant cry sounded as he held up a few sheets of paper. "It's one of the member data sheets!"

Everyone crowded round as Kiba cleared a space and smoothed the sheets down on the table. Finally after a day of searching they had finally found something. They looked it over; it was indeed a mission data sheet on one of the squad members. "It's only one, but it's a start" Sakura remarked. The information was set out in the standard. Profile image, name, rank, mission history, age, those sorts of things. Although insignificant it provided them with another far more important link. A person to which they could question.

"We're going to have to let the Hokage know immediately." The others nodded at Chouji declaration. Kiba however hadn't moved. "K-Kiba?" Hinata gently poked her boyfriend.

"Kiba what's wrong?"

Kiba placed his finger next to a word near the bottom of the second page, a word that they all knew. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Root."

* * *

**So what did you think? Sorry if it seemed a bit dragged out, but very soon things start to kick off.**

**So until next time mi amigos!**


End file.
